Flume construction and car therefor.



V. K. WOODS.

FLUME CONSTRUCTION AND CAR THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. I918.

Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

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V. K. WOODS.

FLUME CONSTRUCTION AND CAR THEREFOR.

APPLICATION man MAY 23. 1918.

1,280,352, Patented 00:. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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iifi I a VINCENT K; woons, or MAiaBLE GRE K, IDA-HO.

FLUIVI CONSTRUCTION AND can THEREFOR.

Toall whom it may concern:

7 Be it known that I, VINCENT K. Woons, a citizen. of thelUnited States,residing at Marble Creek, county .fof Shoshone, and State of Idaho, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Flume Construction and CarsTherefor, of which the following is alspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in transportation mechanism. 7

More particularly speaking,the object of this invention is to provide acarrier or car adapted to operate in a fiume when the latter isnot beingused to convey logs or lumber. Lumber and logging flumes have heretoforebeen exclusively utilized in the trans portation of material bythecurrent of water flowing in theg fiuine. In fact, the great majorityofflumes arelconstructecl from relatively inaccessible points" ofproduction toward points of disposition or transport because ofthe lackof roads, railways and other means of transportation. Therefore, it isusually a soi'irceofgreat expense and con-- siderable labor to convey,the'necessary supplies and materials to suchrelatively remote points ofproduction."

Now it is the primary object of this invention to enlarge thefunction'of aflume so that the latter may serve as a track upon which acar may be advancedto carry supplies, when the flume is not inoperation, so that the fiume will not only perform its usual function assuch, but an additional function as a track-way.

It is well known that fiumes have a V shaped cross-section and thereforeit is an object of this invention to provide a car whiclrissoconstructed that it may be advanced in and along the flume withoutthenecessity of providing the same with special trackage; a r

r In order to permit the ear to negotiate curves, my improved carcomprises a main car frame and a preferably forwardtruck, the said truckhaving a king-bolt pivotal connection with the main frame at aconsiderable distance rearwardly from the front of said mainframewhereby steering movement im-parted t'o;the truck will responsively'actuzpon'the'fralne to enable the. car to safely round a curve." l a [Myimprovedcar is provided with supporting wheels adapted to track in'thebottom of the flume to support the ear, and 1 Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Oct. 1, 191a,

Application filed May 22, 1918. Serial No. 236,253.

also provide stabilizing wheels running against the inside faces of thefiume Walls to maintain the car in an upright position. It is aspecialfeature of my invention to mount stabilizing wheels upon theframe of the car so that these wheels themselves will tend to maintainthe car in position in the flume, the steering feature being primarilyfor thepurpose of canting the car when it is rounding a curve toovercome centrifugal force" a 3 While my invention broadly contemplatesthe idea of providing a flume car for run nmg in a fiume, irrespectiveof the construction of the latter, still, my invention also resides inand comprises a special form or forms of fiumes which greatly facilitatethe utility of my improved car in connection therewith. k

My invention has other objects and features which will be more fullydescribed in connection with the accompanying drawings, and which willbe more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings: 7 u a Figure 1, is a longitudinal vertical sectionalview of a flume showing one form of my improved car therein, the carbeing shown in side elevation, with parts in sections.'

Fig. 2, is a transverse sectional view of the fiume looking toward thefront of the car.

Fig. 8, is a plan view of the frontportion of the main frame andillustrating the relation of the steering truck therewith.

" Fig. 4, is an end view of a timber showing the dotted line out to formthe filler illus trated in Fig. 5. V 6, is a sectio'nalviewof anotherform 'offill'eril' Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic crosssectional view of oneof the usualtypes of fiume, showing the application of my inventionthereto. v

Fig. 8 is asectional view of one of the "caster stabilizing wheels, andits mounting.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts 'throughout'thediiferent figures of thew drawings, H

Asillustrated,1designates, as a whole, a conventional form of "flumesupporting structure which I willnot"describein' detail becauseit'doesnot form anyessential feature ofmy invention. Theflume propercomprises ftheside walls 2, which. maybe formed of double or singleplanking suitably supported at 8 and 4. In the improved fiume shown, awood filler 5 forms a fiat track bottom to what would otherwise be, incross-section, the inverted apex or terminal point of convergence of theV-shaped side walls 2. On light-grades, this filler is made by splittinga timber 6, on the dotted line 7, so that the fiat horizontal tracksurface 8, on which the car wheels run, will have its grain disposedlengthwise, or in other words, in the path of travel of the car, Onsteep grades, whereI desire to get extra tractive surface, the filler 9,as shown in Fig. 6, will be somewhat reduced, as inclicated at 10. Thereduced portion will be filled in with short length and transverselydisposed boards 11 with the grain running transversely of the filler.Thus the car wheels on the steep portions will operate transversely ofthe grain, and this will afford added traction. In cases where thefiller or the boards are of hard wood, achain applied to the car wheelswill soon give or impart to the surface a suliicient broken face toafford the desired traction. These are features of my invention which itwill be found to be of great advantage in building anew fiume adapted tofunction in the capacity. for which my invention is designed. However, Ido not wish to be limited to the application of a car to a speciallyconstructed flume, as I consider it broadly new to employ a car in afiume with the latter func tioning as trackage for the former.

Referring now to my novel car, the same comprises a main frame 12, whichwill preferably have a suitable truck bed 13 forthe disposition ofmaterial to be carried, stakes 14 serving to hold the load in place.This frame 12 will desirably be coextensive in length with respect tothe length of the car. At this point, I desire to develop the'fact thatwhile my invention broadly consists in applying the car to a fiume, Iprefer in practice to provide a self-propelled car, Therefore, the frameis provided with a motor hood 15 inwhich any suitable form of motor maybe disposed, 16 indicating the drivers seat and 17 the dash. A driveshaft 18 extends rearwardly and may be geared or otherwise drivinglyr.connected with ta sprocket shaft 19, mounted in suitable bearings 20, onthe frame 12. A sprocket wheel 21may be mounted upon said shaft and asprocket chain] 22 is trained over saidwheel. My improved car or truckis essentially of the mono-rail type and a rear supporting wheel 23isalso utilizedas a drivejwheel. The axle 24 is shown journaled inbearings 25' which maybe spring suspended below the truck frame 512 bysprings 26. A sprocket wheel 27 rigidly mounted upon the axle 24 takesthe drive from chain 22. I do not wish to be limited to the particularform 7 of detail drive shown, as this is amatter capable of widelatitude.

The forward end of the frame 12 is supported upon a truck 28. A steeringand supporting wheel 29 is mounted upon an axle 30, the latter beingjournaled in suitable bearings 31, secured to truck 28. It will be seenthat truck 28 extends from the front end of the main frame 12approximately midway of the length of the latter, the exact length ofthe truck frame being immaterial. 'I'Iowever, it is a feature of myinvention to dispose the steering axis of the truck frame 28considerably in the rear of the-front of the main frame 12. Thus, themain frame 12 have a cross-brace 32, through which a -kingbolt 33extends. The truck frame 28 is provided at its'rear end with atransverse connecting timber 34 down through which the king-bolt 33extends to pivotally unite the truck frame with the main frame. It willbe seen by ref erence to Fig. 3 that both the truck and main frames arerelatively elongated rectangular frames. From the foregoingconstruction, it will be seen that the forward end of the truckframe'will have lateral movement relative to the forward. end of themain frame, and in order to minimize friction therebetween, I. interposeantifriction balls 35 which may operate in suitable ball races 36 and87, mounted. respectively in truck frame 28 and main frame 12. Theseraces will be 'arcuate and will be struck from a radius of whichtheaxisof the king-bolt is the center. V

Means is provided for steeringthe car, and I have herein shown suchmeans of a very simple form since the means itself is not so importantas the combination thereof with my improved car, the essential thingbeing that the steeringmeans laterally shifts the truck frame 28 withrespect to the. main frame 12, about the king-bolt as an axis.Asillustrated, a rack 38 may be mounted on the truck frame 28, and thesame may project upwardly into the main frame 12. The rackis-very shortin length because of the very slight movement which it'will be necessaryto impartto the frame 28. A pinion 39 is mounted upon a steering post40having a steering wheel 41. 'Bearings 42 and .43, mounted uponframe 12,provide means for jourl'ialing the steering post 40. .Nw,

it will. be obvious that as the steering wheel 40 is turned in onedirection the car will be traverse. the inside faces 45 of the flumewalls 2. Wheels 44 are mounted in yokes 46, theshanks d7 of wliiclitelescope and are t sWiv-eled in sockets 48, mounted on frame 1'2. -Thusthesestabilizing wheels function as" caster wheels and I consider m N ta part of y nvention l to emloy caster wheels to st bil-ize the carframe 121 :Springs 491 urge the I yokes 46 i downwardly andoutwardlyagainst the flume Walls Qythereby stabilizing the; car andmaintaini g the sarne an "u pright position. These-stabilizing WheelsW111 preferably be disposed ginfpairs, one pairbeing forwardly of theking bolt; 33 and the radially inwardly- Will track do n the flume side;If these Stabilizing Wheels jweretnot sivi'veled or master Wheels, theywould skid instead of rolli1ig, -When theoar is tilted,

and" further, they Would;-haveitobe abso lutely true, if rigid-in ltheir" socketsain order to act in unison land-in 5 harmony with the"carand "flume, jit being understood that a-great deal Qflee-Way is required in such a rough structure. It will also be" clear that thesestabilizing Wheels not only-function to maintain the eill lilan upright;position, but; in the absence hof any steering means, these stabilizi-ng1 wheels 1night roughly speaking, act to guide the car throughout itstravel in the flumepnot only in straight stretch es b ut through curvedcourses 1 However; suchaoonstruction would involve i the -iassumption of1 a front wheel incapable of steering novement or adju'stment, andtherefor 'the 'stabilizing wheels "would necessarily cause slippage; orlateral skidding] of the supoprting vvheels in' nia intaining the carnpright and win nc gotiating curves; Furthermore, i11' the ab sence of asteering device,:' it w ould beimE- possible to I cant o tilt thecartoward the radial center-oftlie curve it Wasrounding. Hence theimportance of the steering truck frame- 28, which enables" the operatorto guide the car inthe flume not only through curved portions but alsostretches. V

In Fig. 7, I have illustrated, diagrammatically, at 50, a V-shaped flumeof simple form with a supporting car Wheel 51 having a periphery shapedto run in the apex of the line of convergence of the flume. 52 is thecar, and 53 designates means for stabilizing the car in the flume.

An important feature of my invention is that it is not necessary toobstruct the interior of the flamein any manner whatsoever, in order tooperate my improved car therein. Wholly apart from the excess cost oflaying rails along the sides of the flume, is the more important factthat such parts would obstruct the passage through the fitinieiofduinben and logsw: Further, by eniploying oaster "wheels runningonthe inside faces ofthe flume, it is -notnecessary tormake the same asaccurate as would be necessary if tlfe vvheels runon-theHupper edgesofithe flume Wallsi 'a I; r v: l a

"s believedfithathmy "invention, which resides "nzzthe car, theuflume,and the soombinatioiipavill r be clearly. understood :from thefoiegoin'giIdescription, i and ivhile 1 I have herein Ishovvnispecifiotforms of: myinvention, Ii'fdo notlivvish to: be limited thereto exceptfon; su-chislimitations as wthel claims may mport; g

Injconrbination, a water carrying flume structureaiand aoar having meansengaging said structure to maintain the car upright as the can advancesin and along said flume structure Whenwvater is notrunning therethrough,whereby said flume can bealternatelyiused toqwater convey material inone direction Land, can convey material in either (ll'IGOtlOHL u i 1 M22lnliodmbination, aiivater carrying flume struoture;.- and abcar havinglsupporting whieel'sbengaging the bottom of said structure andstabilizing lwheels engaging the sides of said structure to maintain thecar upnightmas the car advances along said flurfie structure when Wateris not running therethrough,whereby; said flume can be alternately musedto: water convev material in one direction anolicar convey .Inaterial'in either directions: :7; a I ,i 1 5311.31. Inv combination,1a V -shapedflume,"- and a car having: vertically disposed supportingwith'eelsengaging the 1 bottom a of said "flume t'oi'supporti the car.and said car having inclined i'wlieels engagingthe: sides of said flumeto maintain the canuprightas itad:

vaneesnlong theiiflume. t V ri iiihi eo1nbination,:1 a V-shapedWatermarrying ffiumen and a car" having supporting Wheels)engaging said:flume to support the cariand said car having] stabilizing Wheels engafg'in'g said flume to maintain the car upright as it advances along saidflume, when the \vater-"is-*- not running 5 theretlirdugh 'avliereby theflume can be alternately used to Water-convey material in one directionand car-convey material in either direction.

5. car adapted to be propelled in a flume, coinprlsing in combination, amain frame, a supporting Wheel for said frame, means on said main framefor rotating said Wheel to advance said car, a steering frame under saidmain frame, a king bolt pivotallv uniting said steering frame With saidmain frame, at a point rearwardly of the front of said main frame, awheel mounted on and supporting said steering frame in advance of saidking bolt, stabilizing Wheels on said main frame in the rear of and inadvance of said king bolt for engagement with said flume tohold 'themain frame upright in said flume, and means. on said main frame foradjusting said steering frame to steer said car; i i

6. In combination, a V-shaped .flume, acar for said flume comprising amainframe, a supporting Wheel. for said main frame, means on saidmainframe for rotating said heel to advance said car, a steering frameunder saidmain frame, a king bolt pivotally uniting :said steering frametotsaid main frame ata point rearwardly -of thelfront of said mainframe, a Wheel mounted on and supportin said steering frame in advanceof said king bolt, stabilizing Wheels on said main framein the rear ofand in advance of saidking bolt for engagement With the sides of saidfiume to hold said main frame upright in said flume and means on saidmain frame for adjusting said steering frame to steer said car. V

7. Aflume car comprisingin comb-ina tion, a main car frame,-a supportingWheel therefor adapted to run in the bottom of the flume, a steeringframe or truck. for said car pivoted to said main frame, a steering andsupporting Wheel on said truck, and

means for shiftingsaid truck to steer said car. i 1 i i 8. A flume carcomprisingin combina tion, a main car frame, a supporting Wheel thereforadapted to run in the bottom'of the Hume,- a steering truck pivoted tosaid main frame and havlng a supporting wheel adapted to run in thebottom of said flume, means for adjusting said truck to steer the car,and caster Wheels on the mainframe fore and aft of the pivotalconnection of thetruck with the main frame for engagement With the sidesof the fiume to maintainthe car upright in the flume. i

9. A flume oar comprising in combination, a main frame, asupportingwheel for one end portion of said frame, a-steering frame.beneath and pivoted, to said main frame and engagingand supportingtheremaining end portion of said mainframe,

. Copiesof this patent may be obtained for nude-supporting Wheelfor saidsteering frame, substantially as described.

10. A flume ear comprlsmg in combine tion, movably nnited main. andsteering truck frames, together form ng a car frame,-

a car comprising piv'otally united main and i steering frames, a Wheelfor each of said frames adaptedto support the car by engagement With thebottom of said flume,

and stabilizing wheels on said ear engaging ".3

the sides of said fiunie to maintain the car upright as it advancesalong said flume, sub stantially as described. I i

, 13.. In combination, a fiume having a hot.

tom. and sides, .a OaIOCOIhpI'iSlIIg pivotally 11 united main and truckframes, Wheel for said frames. engaging thebottom of said flume,stabilizing Wheels engaging the sides of saidzflume to hold thecarupright as the latter advances along said flume, and means 5;."

on said mainframe for shifting said steering frame to steer the car,substantially as described. w j

14. In. combination, a Water-carrying flume structure, and amotor-propelled car .:-T

having means engaging said structure to maintain the same upright as thecar advances in and along said structure When the waterlis not runningtherethrough, whereby convey material in one direction and car conveymaterial in either direction, substantially as described.

In-testimony that I claim the foregoing as my-own, I hereby aflixmysignature.

1 vmoENrK. WOODS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

said fiume can be alternately used to Water

